In California, a Race to Capture the Water Before It Escapes

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California is nearing record precipitation this winter after the three driest years on record left reservoirs drained all over the state. Wary of the state’s frequent drought history, landowners along with state and local water managers are rushing to harvest as much runoff as they can before it escapes into the Pacific Ocean. Gov. Gavin Newsom in February ordered the state to accelerate its efforts to corral storm runoff, such as by facilitating projects to inject more water in underground aquifers.

The mountain snowpack is nearly double what is normal for this time of year, and most reservoirs are either full or above their historic capacity. On March 3, the state Department of Water Resources conducted its manual monthly survey at Phillips Station near Lake Tahoe and found 116.5 inches—one of the deepest on record.

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California officials have been criticized by environmental and fishing groups for letting too much water flow into the ocean. Had the long-proposed Sites Reservoir in Northern California been built, for example, it would have captured nearly a half million acre-feet of storm water the first six weeks of this year, according to an analysis by the Sites Project Authority. Others are worried that capture efforts could hurt wetlands and rivers. That could leave salmon and other threatened species with too little water, said John McManus, president of the Golden State Salmon Association. “This comes at a time when salmon numbers are a fraction of what they should be,” Mr. McManus said. “Without salmon, tens of thousands of jobs in the salmon industry are lost.”

The state Department of Water Resources is fast tracking approval for projects which would pump at least 1.6 trillion gallons into underground aquifers, and is working to expand aboveground reservoirs. Los Angeles city officials say they have diverted 25 billion gallons so far this winter, or enough to meet the annual needs of 308,000 households. That was made possible partly by improvements such as deepening a group of pool-like basins in the San Fernando Valley so they could hold more rainwater, said Sabrina Tsui, a manager at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

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